Castle-less Lake

September tours are usually a good way to take a break from the summer hubbub and give our Porsches one last shot at a “dry” run through the north country.  Our 24 September tour did just that.  In total, 7 Porsches made the run to Mount Shasta, and 6 made it to Castle Lake. 

Will and Kathy Thompson, Russ and Ruth Duclos, Jerry and Elly Nystrom, Phred Degner, Joe and Pa Sombath, Pam and I met at Oasis Auto Repair on a beautiful Sunday morning to stage for a pleasant jaunt through the north state.  Duane and Beth Spencer were to meet us in Lakehead, and Joe and Pa were to depart from the ranks in Mount Shasta, but as we went north, the plan must have gone south.   I-5 north seemed to be occupied with a solid line of trucks and trying to keep a formation of Porsches together was a formidable task. 

We made an unannounced exit to the Salt Creek Rest Area, and those of us who were able to negotiate a lane change through the heavy truck traffic gathered in the parking lot.  Joe and Pa must have gotten relegated to life in the fast lane, because they weren’t among those in the parking lot.  Life in the fast lane in a Porsche—not a bad way to go, huh?  We finished our business, consisting of drawing another poker run card, and headed north to Lakehead. 

We met Duane at the popular Lakehead landmark, The Bass Hole, but found him to be without a navigator.  Duane explained that Beth was to meet us for lunch in Dunsmuir, so Duane and Phred shared the onerous tasks of being both driver and navigator.  Some quick math reveals that Duane’s enlistment in the tour gives us 7 cars—in total—even though Joe and Pa had already taken the expressway to points north. 

Jerry navigated us through some silky-smooth windy roads to Castle Lake, but the sign must have been in error, because we surely found no castle at this lake.  We found a couple of primitive “thrones” in brick building near the water, but nothing I would call a “castle.”  Anyway, a couple of quick photo ops, and we were on our way down the hill to the town of Dunsmuir.  We met Beth at the Brown Trout for lunch, but I think something was a little fishy about the selection of the restaurant.  The owner and Jerry were on a first name basis and the only trout I saw was on the wall.  After the final round of drawing cards in our poker run, Jerry explained what the rules were.  So, is it straight poke, that king with the ax thing, or “the third card drawn after the second queen on the 4^th stop”  Hmmmm—there’s more fishy here than just the Brown Trout!  After seeing Jerry’s hand, it really didn’t matter what the rules were—his 5 aces would have everything else beat anyway. 

It was a lovely tour with some unique twists and turns and a great way to finish our last dry tour of the year.  Weather permitting, we’ll go Salmon hunting in October, and if possible, toss in a bonus tour in November. 

See you on the road.